Clothes-drier



(No Model.)

Y C. I'OWLEB..

CLOTHES Damm No. 559 o5?.

'Patented Apr. 28, 1896.

wihyzssas AN DREW EGRKAM. PHQTD'LH'HQWASHINGTOM ILCv llNrTEn STATESPATENT @Erica CHARLES FOVLER, OF LAKE ARIEL, PENNSYLVANIA.

cLoT'HEs-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,057, dated .April28. 1896. Application filed February l0, 1894. Serial No. 499,775. (Nomodel.)

To all whom zit may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES FOWLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lake Ariel, in the county of Vayne and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Drier, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in clothes-driers.

The object of the present invention 4is to improve the construction ofclothes-driers,

and to provide one which will be adapted to be mounted in a yard or thelike when in use, and which may, when not in use, be compactly foldedfor carrying into a building or other similar inclosure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clothes-drier on whichthe clothes to be dried cannot become torn or otherwise injured by theaction of the wind on the drier.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clothes-drierconstructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is averticalsectional View.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in both iiguresof the drawings.

1 designates a vertical shaft having its lower end mounted in an openingor socket of a base 2 and forming a spindle fora frame 3. The base isdesigned to be firmly iixed in the ground, and the frame is provided atdiamctrically-opposite points with pivoted bars or props 4, whichsupport lines 5, and which are adapted to fold vertically.

The frame 2 is removably mounted upon the vertical shaft or spindle. Itconsists of a central post 6, horizontal arms 7, extending outward fromthe top of the post and arranged at right angles to one another, andlower horizontal arms or bifurcated lugs 8, between which are pivotedthe lower ends of the props orbars 4. The Vupper and lower horizontalarms 7 and 8 are preferably composed of cross-bars. The lower ones areprovided with bifurcations to receive the lower ends of the bars orprops 4, and the upper arms are provided with longitudinal slots 9,forming ways for the reception of the props or bars 4. The upper end ofthe vertical shaft or spindle is reduced at 10, and a shoulder 11 isformed a short distance above the base or block 2, and the removableframe 3 is provided with upper and lower bearing-plates 12 and 13, whichrest and 'loosely turn upon the shoulders of the shaft' or spindle, andwhich have openin gs corresponding with the diameters of the shaft atthose points. The upper horizontal arms 7 which are diagonally disposed,are braced by the horizontal bars 3, which are arranged in the form of asquare, and which connect the pairs of guide-arms 7 adjacent to theouter ends thereof.

The clothes-lines 5 are horizontally disposed and are arranged in theform of rectangles when the drier is in operative position, and it willbe readily apparent that as the clothes-lines are arranged at differentpoints the rectangles formed by them gradually vary in size and enablethe clothes to be suspended from them without those of one linecontacting with or interfering with those of another. y

The folding bars or props 4 are locked by pins 14 in their operative andfolded positions, and are provided with upper and lower perforations 15and 16, adapted to register with inner and outer perforations 17 and 18of the arms 7 for the reception of the pins.

When the clothes-drier is not in use, the props or bars are foldedvertically, as illusA trated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of theaccompanying drawings, and the frame may be readily removed from thevertical shaft or spindle to enable the drier to be carried into thehouse.

It will be seen that the drier is simple and comparatively inexpensivein construction, that it may be readily folded compactly, .and that whenin operative position it presents a maximum amount of clothes-lines in aminimum amount of space.

At this point emphasis is laid upon the arrangement wherein the foldingprops or bars are arranged to work in the longitudinal slots of therigid guides 7. By this arrangement the props or bars are securelybraced later? ally, so that their pivots are entirely relieved from anystrain that otherwise might be placed thereon, while at the same timethe clothes- IOO Krevolved by the wind. In this connection anotherimportant feature of the present invention is to be noted in the factthat the upward divergence of the folding props or bars, in connectionwith the short vertical pivot-post andy the manner of connecting theprops or bars thereto, assists to prevent the drier from being liftedfrom its pivot-shaft by hard winds, and the specific manner of mountingthe drierframe on the double-shouldered pivot-shaft allows the drier torevolve easily in a slight breeze, which rotation assists in drying theclothes quickly and also prevents the clothes from tearing in highwinds.

Changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of constructionmay be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificingany of the advantages of this invention.

Vhat I claim is- In a clothes-drier, the combination of a suitable base,a short vertical pivot-shaft fitted at its lower end in said base andprovided at a point .directly above the base and near its upperextremity with separate supportingshoulders, Aa vertical` pivot-post ofsubstantially the same length as the distance between the twosupportingshoulders of the shaft, said post being loosely and removablymounted on the pivot-shaft and having fitted on its upper and lower endsperforated metallic bearing-plates, said bearing-plates on the upper andlower ends of the pivot-post being arranged to loosely turn respectivelyon the upper and lower supporting-shoulders of the shaft to permit of afree rotation of the drier by wind, a series of upwardly-divergentfolding props pivotally connected at their lower extremities with thelower end of the pivotpost so as to turn with the latter, and means forfastening the props in their folded and extended positions,substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES FOWLER. Witnesses:

E. W. SIMoNs, JONATHAN BRowN.

